How did you get into the hobby of Knives?
- Thread starter needler420
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2018
- Messages
- 34
Agreed!
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2013
- Messages
- 6,140
I was gifted my first knife at age 6. I had just started first grade and the first weekend after school started, my grandfather gave me a smallish peanut folder, saying
"Now that you're starting school, you need your own knife. We can't have you borrowing one all the time."
After that I kept accumulating worn pocket knives and received the occasional scout knife as birthday or Christmas presents.
My first fixed blade was a Western L46-5. I was helping my grandfather get the combine ready for maize harvest. His left shirt sleeve got caught in the chains/gears.
He reached down, pulled out his Kabar 1232 and cut off his sleeve before he was injured. He looked at me and said
"That's why you carry a fixed blade when working on machinery. You'll never get a pocket knife out in time."
I replied with "But Popo, what if it had been your other arm?"
He looked at me like I was speaking Greek at first, then he realized what I was talking about and he walked over, turned off the tractor and said "Let's go." We got in the truck, drove 3 miles to the Western Auto in town. They were out of 1232s, so he got the Western. A couple of weeks later, the WA owner called and told him that the "little Kabars" were in if he still wanted one.
He replaced the Western with another 1232 and the first time he saw me after getting it, gave me the Western L46-5, saying "If you're smart enough to come up with a question like that, you're old enough to carry a fixed blade."
Except when prohibited by law, regulation or workplace rules, I've carried paired fixed blades and paired folders. Because you never know which hand you will have to cut something with.
The first knife I bought for myself was in 1973 when I used some of my HS graduation money to buy myself a Buck 110.
As far as what really kicked off my collecting of sharp and pointy things, that began when I came home from my 1st Class Midshipman Cruise between my junior and senior years in college. I had "free" money in my pocket from getting paid for 8 weeks of active duty. I knew that I needed (based on reading Navy Regs), that a small boat crewman (Boat Officer being one of the extra duties of an officer I experienced on cruise) should have either a USN MK1 or USN MK2.
(Aside - turns out the mandatory requirement had gone away, but the regulations had not been updated.)
So I went down to the local surplus store in College Station TX to see what they had. They had a 30 gallon barrel full of MK2s and another full of MK1s for $10 each. I picked out a nice MK2 (had to get the 7" blade over the 5", right???
). Then I saw this weird looking bayonet. The guy wanted $10 for it, as well. I asked him if he'd take $15 for the pair. He agreed. It took me a while to find out what I had was an 1869 Yataghan bladed Chassepot sword bayonet. I decided later that I wanted a MK1 as well. I went back and got one, talked the guy down to $8 for that one.
I still have everyone of those knives.
After graduation and commissioning into the US Navy, I would go to pawn shops, garage sales and estate sales where ever the Navy sent me, always looking for swords, bayonets, sabers and military knives. I put a bounty out with my enlisted guys to get them to spend less time getting drunk and more time scrounging for me.
"Bring me a GOOD CONDITION bayo/sword/saber/military knife and the receipt - I'll pay you a finder's fee of $10". In the era of $2 minimum wages, they pounced on that deal. Plus, being "broke enlisteds" they could dicker down to better prices than I could.
This coming July, it will have been 42 years since I started collecting military knives, bayonets, swords and then non-military knives. I've bought way more than I have sold or given away, and I've given away more than I have sold.
"Now that you're starting school, you need your own knife. We can't have you borrowing one all the time."
After that I kept accumulating worn pocket knives and received the occasional scout knife as birthday or Christmas presents.
My first fixed blade was a Western L46-5. I was helping my grandfather get the combine ready for maize harvest. His left shirt sleeve got caught in the chains/gears.
He reached down, pulled out his Kabar 1232 and cut off his sleeve before he was injured. He looked at me and said
"That's why you carry a fixed blade when working on machinery. You'll never get a pocket knife out in time."
I replied with "But Popo, what if it had been your other arm?"
He looked at me like I was speaking Greek at first, then he realized what I was talking about and he walked over, turned off the tractor and said "Let's go." We got in the truck, drove 3 miles to the Western Auto in town. They were out of 1232s, so he got the Western. A couple of weeks later, the WA owner called and told him that the "little Kabars" were in if he still wanted one.
He replaced the Western with another 1232 and the first time he saw me after getting it, gave me the Western L46-5, saying "If you're smart enough to come up with a question like that, you're old enough to carry a fixed blade."
Except when prohibited by law, regulation or workplace rules, I've carried paired fixed blades and paired folders. Because you never know which hand you will have to cut something with.
The first knife I bought for myself was in 1973 when I used some of my HS graduation money to buy myself a Buck 110.
As far as what really kicked off my collecting of sharp and pointy things, that began when I came home from my 1st Class Midshipman Cruise between my junior and senior years in college. I had "free" money in my pocket from getting paid for 8 weeks of active duty. I knew that I needed (based on reading Navy Regs), that a small boat crewman (Boat Officer being one of the extra duties of an officer I experienced on cruise) should have either a USN MK1 or USN MK2.
(Aside - turns out the mandatory requirement had gone away, but the regulations had not been updated.)
So I went down to the local surplus store in College Station TX to see what they had. They had a 30 gallon barrel full of MK2s and another full of MK1s for $10 each. I picked out a nice MK2 (had to get the 7" blade over the 5", right???
). Then I saw this weird looking bayonet. The guy wanted $10 for it, as well. I asked him if he'd take $15 for the pair. He agreed. It took me a while to find out what I had was an 1869 Yataghan bladed Chassepot sword bayonet. I decided later that I wanted a MK1 as well. I went back and got one, talked the guy down to $8 for that one.I still have everyone of those knives.
After graduation and commissioning into the US Navy, I would go to pawn shops, garage sales and estate sales where ever the Navy sent me, always looking for swords, bayonets, sabers and military knives. I put a bounty out with my enlisted guys to get them to spend less time getting drunk and more time scrounging for me.
"Bring me a GOOD CONDITION bayo/sword/saber/military knife and the receipt - I'll pay you a finder's fee of $10". In the era of $2 minimum wages, they pounced on that deal. Plus, being "broke enlisteds" they could dicker down to better prices than I could.
This coming July, it will have been 42 years since I started collecting military knives, bayonets, swords and then non-military knives. I've bought way more than I have sold or given away, and I've given away more than I have sold.